A New Situation
by TrinityLast
Summary: *sigh* I had the wrong summery here...sorry. OK: "Angel comes back to say goodbye, but things are a little different than he thought..."


Title: A New Situation 1/1  
  
By TrinityLast  
  
E-mail: trinitylast@wambtac.com  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. The characters belong to He Who Must Not Be Named (not the one from Harry Potter) and the song is "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey.  
  
Distribution: My site (thedge), Forbidden Dreams and Starkitty. Anyone else who has my permission already. Other than that...no, ok? Too many places at this point.  
  
Rating: If you can watch, you can read.  
  
Spoilers: Oh...General Season Five? Joyce is alive, Riley's still there, Angel's not nuts over Darla and Dru. He's fine, been working towards redemption as always.  
  
Feedback: YES! I need it. It's like coffee.  
  
Note: First songfic ever, but I couldn't help it. I was listening to the song, and the story wrote itself.  
  
**  
  
// Here we stand Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two Sleepless nights Losing ground I'm reaching for you, you, you //  
  
He wasn't good enough for her.  
  
That's all Angel could think as he watched them dancing from his place under the stairs. He wasn't good enough for her. No one would be good enough for her.  
  
// Feelin' that it's gone Can change your mind If we can't go on To survive the tide love divides //  
  
He'd left with the intention of giving her a better life, but he couldn't stay away. The questions in the back of his head had kept haunting him. What if he was just hurting her more? What if she never moved on?  
  
But then he'd come back, and the alternative had been worse.  
  
What if the man she found wasn't worthy of her?  
  
// Someday love will find you Break those chains that bind you One night will remind you How we touched And went our separate ways //  
  
And now, now that he knew his soul was bound, could he move in on her life? Riley may not be worthy of her, but one thing was sure.  
  
He *did* love her.  
  
// If he ever hurts you True love won't desert you You know I still love you Though we touched And went our separate ways //  
  
Angel watched them moving under the dimmed lights and he had to stifle a hysterical laugh. Now, now he could finally be with her...and he couldn't.  
  
Because he'd already given her to someone else.  
  
// Troubled times Caught between confusions and pain, pain, pain Distant eyes Promises we made were in vain, vain, vain //  
  
He'd promised forever and backed out. Because he was so scared that forever would be cut short. That one morning, just waking up in her arms, just holding her, would release the demon. Now he knew that could never happen. Now he knew, it hadn't been a danger since Willow cursed him the second time.  
  
He knew, and it was too late.  
  
// If you must go, I wish you love You'll never walk alone Take care my love Miss you love //  
  
He couldn't take her back. He couldn't force his way in. It wasn't right. Her emotions weren't his to play with, as Angelus had. He had no right to move in and yoyo her feelings up and down like that.  
  
In fact, he shouldn't be here at all, but he'd had to come. When he'd found out, there was nothing he'd wanted more than to see her, and the car had almost driven to Sunnydale on it's own. And he knew she could feel it. She could feel *him*.  
  
Just as he could feel her.  
  
// Someday love will find you Break those chains that bind you One night will remind you How we touched And went our separate ways //  
  
Suddenly Angel moved forward. He had to stifle a growl as he sniffed the air. Riley had a new scent on him. It wasn't another woman exactly...  
  
It was another vampire.  
  
Angel stepped back into the shadows but this time, he knew he wasn't going to stay there. That wasn't the smell of a fight. That was a feeding. That scent was of a man who was *letting* vampires drink from him. Angel knew that smell well, he'd slept with enough women under that guise to know. He used to look for them, hunt them out. Angelus had found them to be his most pleasurable kills.  
  
And the scent clung to Riley. Only one thought went through Angel's mind.  
  
Buffy would find out.  
  
// If he ever hurts you True love won't desert you You know I still love you Though we touched And went our separate ways //  
  
She would find out because that just wasn't the kind of thing you could hide. If for no reason other than the bit marks. Angel's eyes were drawn to Riley's arm, the one around *his* mate. There was a bandage there, and it was already showing signs of age. Eventually, someone would want to know why he was still wearing it for such an old injury.  
  
It would kill her. Buffy had already been hurt so much. This would destroy her.  
  
// I still love you girl I really love you girl And if he ever hurts you True love won't desert you No, No //  
  
Angel took one last look at them before backing out from under the stairs and heading for the door. It wouldn't happen tonight. Angel would feel it.  
  
But it would happen soon.  
  
And he was going to be there. He'd hold her together, his beloved, and prove to her that there *were* men that wouldn't betray her.  
  
This time, he wasn't leaving. 


End file.
